(_Tune--Battle Hymn of the Republic_):
Mine eyes have seen the glory of the Red Cross on the White;
It carries ease and comfort to the soldiers in the fight,
It strengthens their endeavors in the battle for the right,
Its mercy never fails!
Hail the Red Cross then forever,
Its mercy never fails!
At the call of suffering thousands it now flies across the sea,
The homeless hosts of Belgium know its mercy kind and free,
In prison camps in Europe it breathes hope and liberty,
Its mercy never fails!
Hail the Red Cross then forever,
Its mercy never fails!
_FRANCE_:
Your gifts and messages bring comfort and inspiration, but why does
America wait?
_CHARITY_:
“With malice toward none, with charity for all,” America has sought to
live at peace with all men. “With firmness in the right as God gives
her to see the right,” she will act when the time comes.
_BRITAIN_ (_to_ FRANCE _and_ BELGIUM):
Said I not so? (_Turning toward West with outstretched arms_):
“Columbia, Sister of the West,
With all of Nature’s gifts endowed,
With all of Heaven’s mercies blessed,
Nor of thy power unduly proud,
Peerless in courage, force, and skill,
And godlike in thy strength of will,--
“Before thy feet the ways divide;
One path leads up to heights sublime;
Downward the other slopes, where bide
The refuse and the wreck of Time.
Choose, then, nor falter at the start,
O choose the nobler path and part!”
_FRANCE_ (_stepping to_ BRITAIN’S _side, continues_):
“Be thou the guardian of the weak,
Of the unfriended, thou the friend;
No guerdon for thy valor seek.
No end beyond the avowèd end.
Wouldst thou thy godlike power preserve,
Be godlike in the will to serve.”
(_Others join_ BRITAIN _and_ FRANCE _in silent supplication.
Music softly, first lines of “Star-Spangled Banner.” While
music sounds, the American Flag is unfurled from above over
stage. Immediately_ AMERICA _enters. She is dressed like_
COLUMBIA _and carries a lighted torch. While she stands a
moment in the center at the rear, music changes to “Hail
Columbia,” while all on stage salute her._)
_ALL_:
Hail! Hail! Columbia!
_AMERICA_:
“Prince of Light, or Prince of Darkness!
I have chosen for the world,
On the side of deathless freedom
I my banner have unfurled.”
_AMERICA_ (_to Belgium_):
“Little Belgium, crushed and bleeding,
Martyred by the cruel horde,
Crowned with thorns, yet bravely fighting,
Thou shalt live to be restored!”
(_to France_):
“France, the fair, with face uplifted,
Radiant courage on you waits,
Thou shalt beat the hordes of Prussia,
Seeking entrance at thy gates.”
_FRANCE_:
They shall not pass! They shall not pass!
_AMERICA_ (_to Britain_):
“Britons, ye
Who guard the sacred outpost, not in vain
Hold your proud peril! Freemen undefiled
Keep watch and ward! Let battlements be piled
Around your cliffs; fleets marshalled, till the main
Sink under them; and if your courage wane,
Through force or fraud, look westward to your child.”
_BRITAIN_:
“Now fling them out to the breeze,
Shamrock, Thistle and Rose,
And the Star-Spangled Banner unfurl with these--
A message to friends and to foes
Wherever the sails of peace are seen, and wherever
The war wind blows--
“A message to bond and thrall to wake,
For whenever we come, we twain,
The throne of the tyrant shall rock and quake,
And his menace be void and vain,
For you are lords of a strong land,
And we are lords of the main.”
(_While_ BRITAIN _speaks_, IRELAND, SCOTLAND, _and_ ENGLAND
_group flags beside Stars and Stripes_.)
_AMERICA_ (_to Canada_):
“Valiant neighbor of my home land,
The flower of thy Canadian youth;
At the front where danger gathers
Bravely stand for God and Truth.”
(_to Italy_):
“In the bright and sunny Southland,
Where thy sons are fighting sore,
Garibaldi’s spirit liveth
As the wine of life they pour.”
(_to All_):
“Noble Sisterhood of Nations,
I have joined thy vanguard, too;
Freedom’s torch is brightly burning,
And I pass it on to you.”
(_Waves torch and all light electric torches which have been
concealed; these they raise aloft as_ AMERICA _continues_):
“Bear aloft its sacred message
To all nations of the earth,
Till a world-wide peace forever
Comes to bless us with new birth.”